Saint Patrick

  Here we are, coming up on Saint Patrick's day, a day with filled with celebrations and traditions  but have you ever wondered who he was?

Did you know that he was not Irish? He was born in Britain to parents who may have been Roman.  His parents were of the upper class. At the age of 14, he was captured by Irish pirates who took him back to Ireland as a slave.  He spent the next six years watching sheep.

It was during this time, he turned to God and became a believer.  When he was twenty, he followed a dream and escaped back to England where he was reunited with his family.  After a few years, he had another dream that caused him to study to become a priest.

At this point, he went back to Ireland to share Christianity per the directive of a local Bishop, not the Pope. Over a 40 year period, he converted many of the Irish to Christianity.  There are some claims made about him that may or may not be true.

1.  He drove the snakes out of Ireland.  This is probably not true because Ireland is one of the few places where snakes were not found originally.  Ireland has always been an island surrounded by water so there was no way for snakes to make their way there.  It is thought that this refers to driving the Druids out and helping Christianity become the dominant religion.

2.  He brought Christianity to Ireland.  Missionaries had already gone over to convert people.
There is speculation that Saint Patrick was actually is an amalgamation of two people.

3. He used the shamrock to explain the trinity of God to the Irish because they could not understand it.  There is no real evidence to prove he actually did this.

There are many other acts attributed to him but does it really matter?  His story is awesome and he has been granted sainthood.  He is part of our current life and we celebrate him.  I hope everyone has a great day.